Sunday Scribblings: Slippery

"Down a slippery slope."

Sorry to be so obvious and trite, but that is the first thought that came to mind when I saw this week's prompt. I've slid down so many slippery slopes lately that the seat of my pants should be worn out. It doesn't take much to push me down, either.

My plans are usually derailed in one of two ways. The first one is when I become overenthusiastic. I become heady with early success and start adding so much more to the plan that I can't keep up with it. The second thing that will sabotage me is my inability to bounce back quickly from an unforeseen event.

Take my recent efforts to establish an exercise routine, for instance. It took me more than a month to talk myself into getting on the treadmill the first morning. Once I got started, I remembered the exhilaration of having my blood circulating through my entire body and that pushed me to get back on the treadmill for the next couple weeks. Then, illness struck. I was hit with an attack of vertigo stronger than any I had experienced previously. It took me 10 days to get over it, but it took me a month to even think about exercising again.

This is only one example of what happens to me all the time. I've learned how to guard against excessive planning; a simple look back at my previous failures reminds me to keep my plans simple. Getting back on schedule quickly after something goes wrong is more difficult. I spend too much time being angry that I couldn't stick to my routine or that my body keeps working against me.

I climb that hill of preparation and then slip down that slope of laziness and inactivity. My goal is to set up permanent camp on that plateau at the top. Too bad that climbing back up that hill again and again can't be counted as exercise!